Container-cleaning device



April 15, 1958 w. KLEEMAN ET A1. 2,830,605

CONTAINER-CLEANING DEVICE Filed July'lQ, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet `l @gl a ATTC] RN EYE April 15, 1958 w. KLEEMAN -x-:T Ax. 2,830,605

CONTAINER-CLEANING DEVICE Filed July 19. 1955 2 Shevets-Sheet 2 ,BY v

ATTDRN EYE z,s30,60s

CONTAINER-CLEANING DEVICE William Kleeman and Arthur Winningham, Clarksville, Tenn.; Third National Bank in Nashville, executor of said William Kleeman, deceased Application July 19, 1955, Serial No. 522,956

3 Claims. (Cl. 134-133)` IThe present inventionrelates to an apparatus for cleaning containers or cases of the type used to carry and store bottles.

A11 object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which autom-atically cleans a container or case used for bottles after the bottles have been removed therefrom and one which has means for shaking and dislodging dirt from the interior of the container.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for cleaning a container in which are open-top cardboard cartons, and having means for removing foreign matter from the interior of the cartons and from the container exteriorly of the cartons.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which receives a container from a conveyor in unclean condition and delivers it to another conveyor in cleaned condition.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a container-cleaning apparatus which is entirely enclosed and dust proof and may be installed between sections of a conveyor in a bottling plant operating under the most rigid sanitary and dust free regulations.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the annexed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view partially in cross-section,

Figure 2 is atop plan view,

Figure 3 is a sectional View as taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view of a, portion of the base,

Figure 5 is a side elevational view taken on line 5-5 of Figure l,

Figure 6 is a partial view in cross-section of the drum showing a container having cardboard cartons in the uppermost trough of the drum,

Figure 7 is a fragmentary elevational view showing a portion of the mechanism for imparting a vibratory motion to each of the containers while they are being cleaned,

Figure 8 is a further fragmentary view showing the means for rotating the drum in successive partial rotational movements,

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic view of the apparatus shown in Figure 7,

Figure 10 is a detail view in elevation showing the means for imparting a braking action to the rotational movement of the drum, and

Figure 11 is a detail view greatly enlarged showing the means for holding the cases in the troughs.

Referring in greater detail to the drawings in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, the container-cleaning apparatus of the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 and comprises an upstanding housing 11 mounted on a base 12, said housing having an opening 13 in the upper end thereof. Specifically, the opening 13 consists nited States Patent ice of registering openings formed in the spaced side walls 14 and 15 of the housing 11. A drum 16 is positioned within the housing 11 and is rotatably carried by a shaft 17 which is supported in the housing side walls 14 and 15. The drum 16 has a plurality of troughs 18 which extend inwardly from the periphery of the drum and which are arranged in spaced relation so that one trough is uppermost and in registry with the housing opening 13, another trough is in an inverted position at the bottom of the housing and suspended over a tray 19 extending over the base 12 within the housing 11. Each trough 18 is provided with a door 23 in the form of rollers arranged in side by side relation.

Conveyor means is provided for delivering unclean bottle cases or containers 21 in back to back relation to each trough in turn and comprises an endless belt conveyor 22 arranged horizontally and on one side of the housing 11 and having one end adjacent to and inl registry with the housing opening 13.

lt is to be noted that the shaft 17 lies substantially in the same vertical plane of the rectilinear path of travel of the conveyor means or conveyor 22, and that the periphery of the drum 16 lies outwardly of the housing opening 13 with each of the troughs 18 extending completely across the drum periphery. The troughs 18 are substantially in alignment with the housing opening 13 when a trough is in the container receiving position.

Means is'operatively connected to the'drum 16 for imparting partial rotational movements to said drum 16 with an interval of pause following the execution of each partial movement of the drum, the rst two successive partial rotational movements of the drum being effective so that the first of such movements shifts one of the troughs into registry with the opening in the housing with the intervening pause being of such duration as to deliver into said one trough an unclean container from the conveyor means adjacent the housing opening by the transporting movement of the next adjacent abutting unclean container on said conveyor means, and the second of such movements shifts said one trough containing the received unclean container to a point out of registry With the housing opening. Specifically such means consists in a ratchet Wheel 24 carried by the one end portion of the shaft 17 which is adjacent the side Wall of the housing 11, the ratchet Wheel 24 being rotated a partial revolution with an intervening pause between adjacent partial revolutions by means of a dog 25 in engagement therewith. The dog 25 is pivotally connected to the upper end of an arm 26, the other end of the arm 26 being eccentrically connected to a disk 27 mounted on one end of a driven shaft 28. The other end of the shaft 28 is connected to gears within a speed-reducing gear box29 carried on the base 12 and driven by a motor 31 also mounted on the base 12. A bevel gear 32 is mounted on the shaft 28 intermediate the ends of ,the latterand is in mesh with another bevel gear 33 carried on the end of another shaft 34 journaled on the base 12 for rotation about a horizontal axis and carrying a sprocket drive wheel 35 on its other end. A chain 36 connects the drive wheel 35 to a sprocket-driven wheel 37 which is drivably connected to the rollers 38 of the conveyor 22.

The other end of the shaft 17 carries a brake drum 39 and a carn plate 41, there being a lever 42 mounted intermediate its ends on the housing side wall 15 and having a roller 43 at one end thereof bearing against the cam surface of the plate 41. The other end of the lever 42 is attached to a casing 44 from which projects a push rod 45 engageable with each container in turn when the container isfin the inverted position in the one trough 18 on the drum 16. The casing 44 contains an electri cally-driven vibrator (not shown) for imparting a vibra- Patented Apr. 15, 1958l assoos torymovement to Ithe push rod 45 to shake and dislodge foreign matter from the container. A resilient bumper 46 mounted on the other side wall 14 opposite to the push rod,45;serves,to returnrthe container after `each vibratory'movement `in one directionras a result of the engagement ofthepush rod v45.

It is to be noted that there arerfour such troughs 18 on the drum 16 and the rotation of the drive disk27 and the reciprocatory movement of theV crank arm 26 causes the drum 16 to rotate in partial rotational movements with an interval of pause following each partial rotational movement and that the first movement of each two successive partial rotational movements of the drum brings one trough into registry and the next successive partial rotational movement carries the trough first to a position on a side of the drumA and next to an inverted position. The trough 18 which is uppermost receives therein an uncleaned container pushed by its engagement with .the next uncleaned container on the conveyor 22 and each cleaned container is pushed from the trough by the next following container. Another conveyor means is provided and consists in an endless belt conveyor 47 disposed exteriorly of the housing 11 adjacent the other side Wall 15 and having one end in registry with the housing opening to receive the cleaned containers as they are pushed out of the troughs.

Means for applying a cleaning iluid, such as a blast of air under pressure mixed with a spray of insecticide, is provided within the housing and consists in nozzles 48 on a conduit 49 positioned over the tray 19 and directed upwardly so as to dislodge from the container in the inverted trough dirt and foreign matter which may be lodged therein. A tank 50 for insecticide is provided and supported upon a portion of the base adjacent the conveyor 22 and is connected to 'a source of air under pressure.

Means is provided to keep the container 21 in the inverted position in the trough and comprises inwardlybent cut out portions 51 on the brackets 52 which extend over each end of the trough, there being a pair of inverted V-shaped channel members 53 mounted on the brackets 52 over each trough to receive the upper ends of the handles 54 of the cardboard cartons 55 as shown in Figures 3 and 6. It is to be understood that some of the containers 21 to be cleaned have partitions 56 for separating the bottles to be placed therein, While other containers have no partitions and are used with cardboard cartons which have the bottle-separating partitions therein, such a container being shown in Figure 3 in crosssection and indicated by the reference numeral 21.

The brake drum 39 has a brake band 57 therearound biased by a spring 58 so as to exert a braking action thereby upon the rotation of the drum 16, there being an adjusting nut 59 on the bolt 61 which is attached to the free end of the brake band 57.

In operation, the motor 31 drives the conveyor 22 at an even rate of speed and the containers 21, 21 are placed on the conveyor 22 Iat a remote point and are transported to a position adjacent the housing side wall 14. The motor 31 also rotates the drive disk 2'7 causing the crank arm 26 to reciprocate and drive the drum shaft 17 in partial rotational movements to bring each trough 18 in turn into registry with the opening in the side wall of the housing, the drum 16 being of such a structure as to completely close the housing opening when the troughs are not in registry with the opening so that any dust or dirt blown free of the containers contained in the troughs cannot escape from the housing. As each container reaches the inverted position in the lowermost one of the troughs and the air blast has dislodged dirt and foreign matter therefrom, the cam action of the cam plate41 shifts the lever 42 to carry the electrically-driven vibrator so that the push rod 45 engages the one end of the container to exert a vibratory movement to the container.

A spring 62 biases the lever in Vsuch a way as to withdraw the electrically-driven vibrator during periods of rotation of the shaft 17 carrying the clean containers to the uppermost position. As each of the troughs 18 carrying the clean container is returned to the uppermost position in registry with the opening 13, it is shifted ontothe conveyor means 47 by engagement with the unclean container next to the housing opening 13 on the conveyor means 22 by the traveling movement of the latter conveyor means. The action of the cam plate 41 upon the roller 43 of the lever 42 is shown diagrammatically in Figure 9.

It is to be noted that the channel members 53 are spaced above the upper ends of the handles of the cartons when the cartons are in the containers so that when in the inverted position the cartons will drop a distance away from the bottom of their respective container so that the blast of air can reach not only into the container to dislodge foreign matter therefrom but can also reach the bottom of the container exeriorly of the cartons to dislodge dirt and foreign matter therefom.

What is claimed is:

l. A container-cleaning apparatus comprising an upstanding housing having registering openings in the upper end of opposed side walls thereof, conveyor means disposed exteriorly of and on one side of said housing with one end adjacent to and in registry with the housing opening for transporting a plurality of uncleaned containers in back to back relation one at a time to the housing opening, a horizontally disposed shaft lying substantially in the same vertical plane vof the rectilinear path of travel of said conveyor means, a drum positioned within said housing and rotatably carried by said shaft, said drum having at least two troughs spaced from each other and extending inwardly from the periphery thereof, said drum periphery lying outwardly of the bottom edge of each of said openings, said troughs extending completely across said drum periphery and being substantially in alignment with said openings when a trough is in the container receiving postion, means operatvely connected to said drum for imparting partial rotational movements to said drum with an interval of pause following the execution of each partial rotational movement, the tirst two successive partial rotational movements of said drum being effective so that the lirst of such movements shifts one of said troughs into registry with said housing opening with the intervening pause being such duration as to deliver into said one trough an unclean container from the conveyor means adjacent said one housing opening by the transporting movement of the next adjacent abutting unclean container on said conveyor means, and the second of such movements shifts said one trough containing the received unclean container to a point out of registry with the housing openings, means for holding said container in said trough during execution of such rotational movements of said drum, and cleaning fluid applying means within said housing and operable to act upon the uncleaned container in the trough out of registry with the housing openings during the intervening pause between the saidtwo successive partial rotational movements of said drum.

2. A container-cleaning apparatus comprising an upstanding housing having registering openings in the upper end of opposed-side walls thereof, conveyor means disposed exteriorly of and on one side of said housing with one end adjacent to and in registry with one of the housing openings for transporting a plurality of uncleaned containers in back to back relation one at a time to said one housing opening, a horizontally disposed shaft lying substantially in the same vertical plane of the rectilinear path of travel lof said conveyor means, a drum positionm within said housing and rotatably carried by said shaft, said drum having at least two troughs spaced from each other and extending inwardly from the periphery thereof, said drumperiphery lying outwardly of the bottom edge of each of said openings, said troughs extending completely across said drum periphery and being substantially in alignment with said openings when the trough is in the container receiving position, another conveyor means disposed exteriorly of and on the opposite side of said housing from said lirst named conveyor means with one end adjacent and in registry with the other of the housing openings for receiving the cleaned containers in turnL from the troughs of said drum, means operatively connected to said drum for imparting partial rotational movements to said drum with an interval of pause following the execution of each partial rotational movement, the first two successive partial rotational movements of said drum being effective so that the rst of such movements shifts one of said troughs into registry with said one housing opening with the intervening pause being of such duration as to deliver into said one trough an unclean container from the conveyor means adjacent the one housing opening by the transporting movement of the next adjacent abutting unclean container on said conveyor means, and the second of such movements shifts said one trough containing the received unclean container to a point out of registry with the housing openings, means for holding said container in said trough during the execution of such rotational movements of said drum, and cleaning fluid applying means within said housing and operable to act upon the uncleaned container in the trough out of registry with the housing openings during the intervening pause between the said two successive partial rotational movements of said drum, the second two successive partial movements being elective so that the rst of such movements shifts the trough containing the clean container into registry with the housing openings With the interval of its pause being of such duration as to cause the cleaned container to be shifted on to said another conveyor by engagement with the uncleaned container next to the housing openings on the lirst-named conveyor by the traveling movement of the latter conveyor.

3. A container-cleaning apparatus comprising an upstanding housing having registering openings in the upper end of opposed side walls thereof, conveyor means disposed exteriorly of and on one side of Asaid housing with one end adjacent to and in registry with one of the housing openings for transporting a plurality of uncleaned containers in back to back relation one at a time to the housing opening, a horizontally disposed shaft lying substantially in the same vertical plane of the rectilinear path of travel of said conveyor means, a drum positioned within said housing and rotatably carried by said shaft, said drum having at least two troughs spaced from each other and extending inwardly from the periphery thereof,

said drum periphery lying outwardly of the bottom edge of each of said openings, said troughs extending completely across said drum periphery and being substantially in alignment with said openings when the trough is in the container receiving position, another conveyor means disposed exteriorly of and on the opposite side of said housing from said rst named conveyor means with one end adjacent and in registry with the other of the housing openings for receiving the cleaned containers in turn from the troughs of said drum, means operatively connected to said drum for imparting partial rotational movements to said drum with an interval or pause following the execution of each partial rotational movement, the first two successive partial rotational movements of said drum being eiiective so that the rst of said movements shifts one of said troughs into registry with said housing openings with the intervening pause being of such duration as to deliver into said one trough an unclean container from the conveyor means adjacent the one housing opening by the transporting movement of the next adjacent abutting unclean container on said conveyor means, and the second of said movements shifts said one trough containing the received unclean container to a point out of registry with the housing openings, means for holding said container in said trough during the execution of such rotational movements of said drum, and cleaning fluid applying means within said housing and operable to act upon the uncleaned container in the trough out of registry with the housing openings during the intervening pause between the said two successive partial rotational movements of said drum, the second two successive partial movements being eicctive so that the rst of said movements shifts the trough containing the clean container into registry with the housing openings with the interval of its pause being of such duration as to cause the cleaned container to be shifted on to said another conveyor by engagement of the uncleaned container next to the one housing opening on the iirst-named conveyor by the traveling movement of the latter con veyor, said means operatively connected to said drum comprising a ratchet wheel carried by said shaft, a driven shaft exteriorly of said housing, and an arm having one end eccentrically connected to said driven shaft and having the other end connected to said ratchet wheel for step by step movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

